Seal-press



(No Model) H. H. WENTHE SEAL PRESS.

Patented Mar. 19,1895.

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HERMAN H. WENTHE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SEAL-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 535,932, dated March 19, 1895. Applioationfiled December 7, 1894. Serial No. 531,109- (No modeltl To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN H. WENTHE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Presses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which. it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements especially adapted for seal presses, although the same may be other presses and similar implements, such as eyeleting or punching devices, and the like.

The object of my invention is to produce a seal press which will furnish great power in a small compass, whereby the press maybe made compact enough to be carried in the pocket, if desired.

A further object of my invention is to construct a seal press so that it can be readily operated by one hand, leaving the other hand free to manipulate the paper or other article to be impressed.

Still another object of my invention is to so construct the seal press that the wear and friction will be greatly reduced, while, at the same time, such parts as may wear can be replaced readily.

With these main objects in view my invention consists in such features, details of construction, and combination of parts as will first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the drawings-Figure l is a side elevation of a seal press embodying my invention, the dies being open. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the dies closed. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section, partly in elevation, on the line 3-3, Fig. 1. Fig. a is a front view, and Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the same, on the line 5-5, Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, A is the frame or bed of the usual G-shape and provided with laterally extending ribs, a, which merge .into a bearing, a, which has lateral slots, a

fora purpose hereinafter described. The bed or frame, A, is also provided with a flared or flanged support, a in this case circular, which carries a lower die, B, attached to the vided with a head, a, which moves snugly within the bearing, beingnormally pressed upward by a helical spring, 0, which surrounds the plunger and bears against the shoulder, (1.

The head, 0, is provided with guide pins, 0 which may be either two independent pins inserted in the head, or one pin passing entirely through said head, these guide pins extending outward through the lateral slots, a and projecting some distance beyond the exterior of the bearing, a, so as to be in the path of the upward movement of the bellcrank lever, hereinafter described, and for a purpose hereinafter explained.

The bearing, a, is provided at or near its lower end with a transverse socket, a through which passes a pivot pin d, whose outward-projecting ends serve as a pivot for a lever device consisting, preferably, of a forked bellcrank lever, D, having arms, at and d straddling the tubular bearing. The end of each arm, 01, is slotted, and in these slots are mounted rollers, (i which revolve on pins, d passing through the arms, d, and through the rollers.

The lower end of the plunger, 0, is threaded into a boss, e, on the upper or seal die, E, being secured against accidental backward rotation by a pin or cotter, e, passing through the boss, e, and through the end of the plunger. On the upper surface of the die, E, is placed a wear plate, F, of any suitable material, preferably hardened steel, and provided with a central opening through which the boss, e, passes. This plate, F, is adapted to contact with the rollers, d which travel over the plate when the hand lever, D, is depressed. The frame or bed, A, is preferably provided with a handle a, for an obvious purpose.

The operation of my device is as follows: The paper or other material to be impressed is placed between the two dies, and the hand lever, D, drawn toward the handle, a, by placing one hand on both lever and handle drawing them together. The movement and of the lever, D, toward the handle, causes the bell-crank arms, 01', to swing downward, thereby forcing the upper die and, with it, the plunger, downward until the said upper die has pressed the paper against the lower die, the spiral spring, 0', being then compressed to its full extent. When the handle is in its normal position, therol-lers at the end of the bell cranks touch the wear plate some distance to the rear of the center of the dies, and, when the handle is first depressed, the pressure being transmitted to the die at the rear of its central support, will force the rear of the die downward slightly ahead of the front of the said die, owing to the springing of the die and the play or lost motion of the plunger necessarily existing in the hollow bearing, whereby the lower face of the upper die becomes inclined to the face of the lower die, though only very slightly. In consequence of this, the paper to be impressed is first struck by the rear edge of the dies, and the impression commences at that point. As the handle descends forther, the bell cranks and rollers travel forward and thereby bring the pressure more nearly in a line with the center of the dies, until, when the dies are at their positions of nearest approach, the roll ers are so near to that transverse plane passing through the center of the dies and plunger as to practically impart the pressure in a direct line downward, thus bringing the dies squarely against each other. The result of this shifting of the pressure from the rear of the upper die toward the central plane and the consequent primary inclination and final straightening of the upper die, is that the impression is made gradually from the rear toward the front, so that the paper is permitted to draw as it is being fed into the intaglio portions of the seal, whereby less strain is put upon the said paper than if the impression were made by a direct approach of the dies, and all danger of cutting through the paper is avoided. From these advantages, it results that by my press, a seal in deeper relief may be employed and adeeper impression made than with those forms with which I am acquainted. At the same time, it is to be observed that after the paper has been permitted to draw to the necessary extent, the final impression is made by a practically direct central pressure, .whereby all unevenness of the impression is avoided. During this action, the rollers, d move over the steel wear-plate, F, and, as a consequence, after a sufficient length of time, the plate, F, will be worn along the path of travel of the rollers. When such wear has taken place, the plate, F, may be revolved on the central boss, e, so as to bring a fresh surface beneath the rollers, 61 and thereby increase the life of the press. When the plate or rollers are so badly worn as to materially affect the efficiency of the press, they may be readily replaced by new ones. When the paper has received the impression, the hand lever, D, is permitted to move upward, being forced in that direction by the spring, 0, which bears against the head of the plunger, thereby causing the upper die to move upward and force the hand lever, D, away from the handle, a".

It is to be particularly observed that the guide pins, 0 perform a double function, since they not only guide the plunger, and thereby prevent rotation of the upper die, but also serve as stops to limit the upward movement of the hand lever, D, thus preventing it from reaching a vertical position,which would render it inconvenient to operate the press by one hand only, as the hand lever, D, would haveto beswung down ashort distance from the vertical before the hand of the operator could grasp it and the handle, a In order to give the lever, D, a better bearing against the guides, 0 the latter are preferably chamfered, as shown at 0 Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a press, the combination, with a frame provided with a hollow bearing, of a die-plunger provided with a die at its lower end and arranged to slide within the hollow bearing, and a pair of bell-cranks pivoted one on each side of the hollow bearing and bearing with their lower ends upon the die, substantially as set forth.

2. In a press, the combination, with a frame provided with a hollow bearing having an inward-extending lower shoulder, of a dieplunger provided with a die at its lower end and headed at its other end and arranged within the hollow bearing,a spring arranged between the lower shoulder of the hollow bearing and the head on the plunger, and a bell-crank pivoted to the hollow bearing and bearing with its lower end on the die, substantially as set forth.

3. In a press, the combination, with a frame provided with a hollow bearing having an inward-extending lower shoulder, of a die-plunger provided with a die at its lower end and arranged to slide within the hollow bearing, a spring for normally raising the plunger, and a pair of bell cranks arranged one on each side of the hollow bearing and pivoted thereto, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with a frame having a hollow bearing, a plunger movable in the bearing, a die secured to the plunger, and a corresponding die secured to the frame, of a pair of bell-cranks pivoted to the frame, and a roller journaled in each bell-crank and arranged to force the plunger and its attached die toward the corresponding die, substantially as set forth.

5. In a press, the combination, with a slotted tubular bearing, a die-plunger, and mechanism for limiting the upward movement of the plunger of means for depressing the dieplunger, and a guide-pin secured in the plunger and extendingthrough and movable in the slots, said pin being arranged to limit the upward movement of the said depressing means, substantially as set forth.

6. In a press, the combination, with aframe having a slotted tubular bearing provided with an inward-extending shoulder at its lower end, a plunger guided by the shoulder and provided with a head fitting snugly within the tubular bearing, and a die carried by the lower end of the plunger, of alever device for forcing said die downward, and a pair of guide-pins attached to the plunger, extending through and movable in the slots, and arranged to limit the upward movement of the lever device, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of the following parts: a frame provided with a tubular bearing having two slots at its upper end, a die-plunger movable in said tubular bearing and provided with two guide-pins movable in and extending through the slots, a spring for normally raising the die-plunger, and a forked bellcrank lever straddling the tubular bearing and pivoted thereto and adapted to bear on the die of the die-plunger, the guide pins being arranged in the path of the upward movement of said bell-crank lever, substantially as set forth.

8. A die frame provided with a plunger carrying a die arranged to slide in the die frame, in combination with a lever device arranged to bear against the die, and a rotatable washer encircling the die-plunger and interposed between the die and the lever device, whereby the Wear from the lever device is taken up and new surfaces of the washer may be presented t0 the said lever device in the course of the wear, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HERMAN H. WENTHE.

Witnesses:

J. L. BENDER, G. E. ASHFIELD. 

